Taksim & İstiklal Avenue

In the 19th century Pera was the European quarter — embassies, department stores, the Orient Express hotel — and İstiklal was its Grande Rue. Today it is Istanbul's busiest street, walked by up to three million people on a weekend day, from Taksim Square at the top down to Tünel, the 1875 funicular that is the world's second-oldest underground line.

Walking down from Taksim

• Taksim Square: the Republic Monument (1928), Taksim Mosque (2021) and the metro/funicular hub.
• Çiçek Pasajı: the 1876 Flower Passage of meyhanes, and the Fish Market behind it for meze and rakı.
• Galatasaray Square: the lycée gates, and Hazzopulo Passage for tea in a courtyard.
• Pera Museum (Osman Hamdi's Tortoise Trainer), the Church of St Anthony, the Pera Palace Hotel where Agatha Christie stayed.
• Tünel: ride the historic funicular down to Karaköy, or walk through Galata to the tower.

Practical

Metro M2 (Taksim, Şişhane) and the F1 funicular from Kabataş serve the square; the nostalgic tram runs the avenue's length. Beyoğlu's side streets — Cihangir, Asmalımescit, Çukurcuma — are where the cafés, antiques and better restaurants are. Late at night the avenue is lively and generally safe; ignore invitations to 'special' bars and clubs from strangers, the one well-known scam.